There have been many mechanised systems which have been developed in an attempt to provide an inexpensive yet durable means for loading and unloading vehicles. The systems generally comprise an extensible conveyor system which is extended from a point outside of a vehicle, into the interior of the vehicle and beneath a load which is supported in spaced relationship to the floor of the vehicle. Hydraulic lifting devices raise the conveyor section to engage the underside of the load, lift the load off the floor of the vehicle and then retract the conveyor section to remove the load from the vehicle. The reverse steps are undertaken to load a vehicle.
One such mechanised system has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,887. This loading and unloading apparatus has proven to be unsatisfactory as the device requires the installation of special rests to be installed on the floor of the interior of the vehicle. If a vehicle does not have such rests, the vehicle must be loaded or unloaded in the conventional manner.
Still other devices such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,727,777, are designed for loading vehicles in an automated fashion. These devices, however, are not suitable for unloading a vehicle because the slide assembly is not able to be wedged beneath the load from the floor of the vehicle to raise the load therefrom. Therefore these devices have a limited use.